


Friends Can Only Do So Much

by Hyperspacial



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: Cheating, Drinking, F/M, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyperspacial/pseuds/Hyperspacial
Summary: So I love the Bobby/Noah ship and wanted to explore a scene where Bobby wins the show with MC but both he and Noah still have unresolved feelings for each other
Relationships: Bobby McKenzie/Noah, Bobby McKenzie/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Friends Can Only Do So Much

Their front door was so nice. It was a dumb thing to notice, but all the other townhomes along the road had plain, beige doors. But they’d painted theirs a rich purple, and hung a winding garland in the middle. Julia must’ve done it up, Noah thought, because Bobby never slows down enough to notice doors let alone put in work to make it prettier. It was prettier, though. 

Seven months after the villa and they’d already found a townhouse together, moved in, and started making it pretty. A bitterness churned in Noah’s chest, and he fleetingly recognized it as jealousy. He shouldn’t be- he didn’t want to move in with Hope then or now. 

The door flung open and suddenly Bobby stood before him, brows knitted in concern.

“Hey big guy, bring it in.” Noah smiled down at Bobby, a genuine, infection grin breaking his facade apart. Bobby threw his arms around Noah and rested his head on his chest. After a beat, Noah returned it, lifting the shorter man slightly off his feet to hug him tightly. Bobby’s giggle was muffled in Noah’s bicep, and they swayed slightly in the embrace before Julia appeared in the hallway.

“Noah!” The warmth in her eyes almost made her expression worse, Noah thought. Her subtle frown, brows pressed downwards in the same concern as Bobby. They looked at him like he was a wounded animal. He gently let Bobby to his feet, and opened his arms for Julia. She stepped out of the house and hugged him, much looser than Bobby had, giving Noah a sympathetic pat on the back. “It’s good to see you, Noah.” She said as she pulled away.

“It really is,” Bobby added. 

“We’ve been so worried, how are you doing?”

Noah glanced back and forth between their faces for a moment, “guy I’m fin-” the softness in Bobby’s eyes broke Noah’s voice harshly, tears suddenly rushing to fill his eyes.

“I’m fine.” He tried again, but Bobby reached out to hold his elbow. He didn’t realized how tightly he’d crossed his arms across his chest. 

“Noah…” Bobby quietly asked, and the dam gave way.

“Bad… I’ve been doing bad.” Noah was nodding quickling, with his whole head, and Bobby pulled him into another hug.

“Oh, come in.” Julia reached out, rubbing Noah’s cheek as tears started rolling down. 

As they ushered him into, Noah sniffed sharply, “I don’t know why I’m crying- it’s- we’re not-”

“It’s okay to cry, Noah.”

“Why’d you come here if not to cry,” Bobby added, walking backwards and pulling Noah by his hands towards the living room. 

“To get drunk,” Noah quipped, sharing a conspiratorial glance with Bobby when Julia scowled at him.

“I’m not going to tell you not to, but is that really the best coping mechanism? I’m just worried and-” Julia rolled her eyes, “yeah okay. I get it Bobby. Fuck me for trying to be helpful I guess.”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that Lass.” Bobby got up from where he’d coaxed Noah to sit on the couch and grabbed her hands, “you know I love youuuu.” 

She rolled her eyes again but accepted his kiss on her cheek. “I just want Noah to not feel pressure to drink away- we can just talk.”

“We can. But where’s the fun in that.” Winking at her, Bobby walked to the kitchen. Julia huffed and settled into the armchair across from Noah, “that boy. I swear, he’ll be the death of me.” Glancing over, she noticed the forlorn look on Noah’s face. “How have you been, babes? I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve seen you.”

“Yeah well, Hope and-”

“We don’t have to talk about her, if you don’t want. Like how’s life been outside of the villa? I could offer you a tour, but it’s basically just here, the kitchen, and the bedroom.”

Noah forced a smile, she was clearly trying. It had worked in the past too, so he couldn’t blame her. Their chats about absolutely nothing were some of the calmest moments in the villa for him. But for some reason her voice wasn’t calming the growing want within him. He didn’t even know what it was he wanted, but since stepping into their home a sense of wrongness had pervaded it. Noah wasn’t sure if Julia and Bobby felt it too, or if he was just spiralling. Like always.

“It’s been… Well, I haven’t much thought about it. It’s just been normal? Sometimes people come to the library to talk to me about it, but that’s only happened a few times. I dunno. Since Hope left it’s started to feel like it was all a dream.”

“I get that. If I hadn’t had Bobby, I wouldn’t want to think about the show ever again.” When she said his name she glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen, absentmindedly smiling with affection. “He keeps me sane. He’s a lot more into the whole pseudo-celebrity thing. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one avoiding social media, though… For what it’s worth, you look… Better.”

Noah didn’t stop the sarcastic laugh, “yeah, better, I’m sure. Put on a stone and-”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that you’re smiling and talking a lot more than you did in the villa. You look more… peaceful.”

Bobby walked back in, a bottle of hennessy with glasses in one hand and a six pack in the other. He maneuvered it all onto the coffee table without dropping anything, then held out one of the two glasses to Noah. 

“Where’s my glass?” Julia quipped, and when Bobby turned to her with a confused expression she stuck her tongue out. 

“I assumed-”

“Yeah you’re right.”

Noah raised his eyebrows, and Bobby looked to her for permission before explaining, “we watched the whole season back and since then Julia’s been trying to avoid booze. Which for the record,” he held a finger up to point at both of them, “I fully support. It just means we never have the good fruity stuff for-”

“We’d have cocktail mixes if you bought cocktail mixes, Bobby.” she cut him off with a sideways glance, “It’s not like I had a problem or anything. Bobby just wanted to watch the show, and it seemed like every day I was having like, four drinks. It just bothered me that I didn’t know how much I was drinking? I don’t know, maybe it was the editing. But like it wasn’t a great way to cope with Lottie, or crushing on Bobby, or the whole Lucas thing…” 

“Yeah I forgot how hard finding the love of your life was for you,” Noah couldn’t help himself from snapping, then he covered his mouth immediately. “Oh my god, Julia I’m sorry-”

“No I’m sorry,” she covered her own face before sheepishly smiling, “here I am complaining about how hard it was when we won and I got this man out of it. I’m sorry, I didn’t think. It’s not-”

“No it’s fine I-”

Bobby grinned widely, “I AM a catch”, everyone laughed softly, effectively diffusing the tension. Noah held his glass out and Bobby poured into it after his own. They all settled into a comfortable silence, Julia looking down at her phone and the boys sipping their drinks quietly.

After a bit, Bobby loudly put his glass down on the table and cleared his throat. “Alright, let’s hear it then.”

Noah frowned slightly, “hear wh-”

“Safe space, we’re not gonna tell anyone. You can call her a bitch and say she ruined your life, if you want.”

“Bobby,” Julia chastised.

“Whaaat? The man came here to moan about getting dumped, let him moan!”

Noah laughed breathlessly, leaning over to shove Bobby’s shoulder. “She’s not a bitch. She just… Fuck man. I won’t say it came out of nowhere, but it feels like it did. Yeah we fought and had our issues, but she just showed up at my job the other week out of the blue and said it was over. We couldn’t even really get into it because she didn’t want to grab a coffee and sit down to chat. God, she didn’t even give me chance-”

“What did she say?” Julia leaned forward. When both of them glanced at her, she shrunk back, “sorry, if you’re not ready-”

“No, no it’s fine. I was re-shelving and she just marched up and said ‘we need to be done’. I didn’t even realize it was her- she didn’t tell me she was driving over or anything. I don’t even remember what I asked her, but she just kept repeating ‘no, we need to be done. It doesn’t matter what you have to say, it’s over.’ That really fucked me up, yknow? ‘It doesn’t matter what you have to say’. Like I did something wrong and was trying to justify it. I wasn’t- I didn’t-”

“It does matter. What you have to say, that is,” Julia said soothingly. Bobby reached over and rested his hand on Noah’s knee, watching him spiral by the way his eyes began to tear up and dart around.

“That’s the problem though, isn’t it? With the whole thing. She liked me better when I wasn’t saying anything and then would get angry at me for not communicating. There wasn’t a thing I could do that wouldn’t make her angry! It doesn’t matter what I had to say, about any of it, the break up, the relationship, the coupling in the first place. She took me from Julia without ever asking. I’ve just been… An accessory this whole time.” Noah downed the rest of his drink with frustration, wincing as it went down, and Bobby quickly leaned over to refill it without asking. He regarded the amber liquid before throwing it back and setting the glass on the table. 

“I wish it had ended differently. I’m glad it ended up I just wish- We’d had rows that lasted hours and stayed together through it! And I don’t even know- It doesn’t matter but still.” 

Noah continued rambling, becoming more and more incoherent as the hours ticked by. The anger only lasted for a half hour. As his face became more flushed from the liquor, he seemed to have a bit of clarity.

“She’s not- It’s not her fault. You know I- I- I. I told her when we left the villa- she was so miserable that we didn’t win. Y’know I felt relieved? Why did I- I was sooooo happy when you two won. You’re clearly so amazing together and I- would’ve been worse if we’d won. But what was I…” Noah paused in confusion, then took a swig of beer. With his head tossed back, suddenly his eyes lit up and he leaned forward, swallowing quickly then sputtering.

“I told her when we lost that we both had some growing to do, y’know, personally. I needed to learn to- you know I still do- learn to tell her when I needed something and kinda… Talk about- Well not- Needed to reassure her where my head was at. And she needed to not be so possessive. But she wouldn’t a been- ah, oops… She wouldn’t have been so possessive if I’d just told her it was okay- I thought it was a villa thing and it- Um...” Noah paused, blinking a bit and then looking up at them for guidance. Bobby seemed a little less far gone than Noah, but still had reclined back and unbuttoned his shirt. Julia had settled in deeper, watching the boys tailspin with slight pity. When she noticed Noah’s expectancy, she offered a reassuring nod. 

“You can’t blame yourself that much, Noah. Hope could get downright verbally abusive when she was angry. It’s not your fault for feeling like you couldn’t communicate when she created that kind of relationship.”

“She didn’t create that kind of relationship thoughhhh.” Noah pushed his head back against the couch, wincing as tears started to form again. Bobby pointed at Noah with his open beer bottle, spilling some carelessly, and shook his head vehemently. 

“It wasn’t always like that.” Noah whimpered. It all rushed forward in his mind, the anger shifting to sadness. “It was so good- I loved her. I loved her.” 

Like a switch flipped, Noah began to silently weep. Bobby was still giggling, but when he noticed he sat up and haphazardly put his beer on the table. He reached over and pulled Noah by his shoulders, down. Noah let himself be yanked into Bobby’s lap, resting his head on his lap as he cried.

“‘Sokay that you loved her.”

Noah’s shoulders began shaking as he pressed his forehead to Bobby’s stomach, crying into his shirt. Bobby started petting his hair.

“I’m… Uh… Are you two hungry? I can go pick up some takeout or pizza or…” Julia rose from her seat, awkwardly hovering. She didn’t mind the emotional outburst, but at this point both Bobby and Noah were too drunk for her to effectively console. Watching them carry on… It pulled something tight within her. It could best be described as pity- Noah deserved to have someone to break down like this in front of. He could never be this vulnerable around Hope- either because it’d make her uncomfortable or because Noah wouldn’t let himself. Friends could only do so much.

Bobby lifted his head slowly and nodded, a bit too vehemently, “pizza.” Julia smiled and grabbed her keys, “please be safe- don’t try to do anything in your… state.”

“Love you” Bobby crooned after her, and Noah sobbed louder before smothering his lips in his fingers. He looked down and pulled at Noah’s hand with all the grace he could muster. “Hey, s’okay. ‘Sokay to cry.”

“I want it.” Noah whimpered, shoulders still wracked with sobs. He turned on his back to look up at Bobby’s face, “I want- want that. The ‘love youuuuuu’” he echoed Bobby’s goofy call to Julia as she’d left. “I want that.” 

“You’re gonna find someone, Noah, you’re gonna…” Bobby stopped to swallow a burp and winced, then looked back down, “you knew Hope wasn’t the… ah fuck- what’s it… Wasn’t the… One! The one.”

“I already lost it,” Noah closed his eyes again, sniffing sharply but his nose still running. 

“You didn’t-” Bobby started to ramble, absently staring at the wall. Noah grabbed his chin and pulled it down, pulling Bobby down against him and kissing it. It took both of their brains a second or two to realize what was happening. Bobby’s eyes shot open in shock, and Noah yanked his hand from Bobby’s face, visibility cringing. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t-” Noah tried to sit up, head spinning, then fell back and tried again. He got himself propped up and ventured a glance at Bobby, who was staring at him, wide eyed. 

Noah looked down, face burning, still sniffly. He didn’t have time to look up when Bobby launched himself at Noah, grabbing his face and pressing his lips against Noah’s. Noah’s skin was covered in tears and snot, and they both blushed darkly as the kiss deepened. Noah couldn’t figure out where he wanted his hands- Bobby’s hair, neck, chest. He’d been both avoiding and pining for this moment for months. Now that it was happening, he couldn’t help but laugh into the kiss at the unfortunate setting. He didn’t want to taste like tears and lamentations. Bobby didn’t seem to mind, biting Noah’s lip to draw him closer as the smile pulled him away.

They made out for what could’ve been only two more minutes or an hour longer. When Bobby finally pulled away, he inhaled deeply and laid his head on Noah’s chest. Noah reached up and wiped from his chin to his eyes with his sleeve, not saying a word. The laid like that until the garage door creaked outside the townhome, opening for Julia’s car. 

Bobby exhaled deeply, “fuck.” 


End file.
